Getting Off The Advertising And Sales Rollercoaster

Seeing the results of advertising your business can be like watching a roller coaster. The day you run your ad you see a flurry of activity; your ph0ne starts ringing, your web site traffic increases and/ or potential clients visit your store. Your hopes soar. sales go up. Two or three days pass and the response goes down. You look at the bill for the advertising and your jaw drops. Your hopes descend.

Nancy called me from Portland, Oregon with just this problem. Every time one of her ads appears in a local publication, customers start walking in the door of her home furnishing store. A few days later the number of prospects and sales goes down. Her advertising gets results, but the thousands of dollars she is paying each month is killing her profits. What can she do?

Whether you advertise your consulting business in The Harvard Business Review or your interior decorating service in the Penny Saver, your ad will cost significant dollars.

How can you make your advertising pay for itself?

How can you use advertising to create a STEADY stream of business?

Write Your Ad to Sell and To Generate Leads Of all the people who could benefit from your products and services, what percentage is likely to buy today? Hopefully a few, but the majority are more likely to need your services tomorrow, next week or next month.

Write your ad to prompt people to buy and if they're not interested in making a purchase, to contact you. When you write your ad:

1. Sell your products or services by selling your solution. 2. Prompt prospects to buy. Include a call to action. 3. Motivate prospects to give you their contact information.

For each person who responds to your ad and makes a purchase today, you should be able to get ten qualified prospects to contact you. Once you have their contact information, you can send them a regular email or postcard for far less than it would cost to run your ad on a weekly basis.

Follow Up On Your Advertising An ad can be the first step in marketing your products and services but unless you follow up, it may be the last. Its what you do after your ad runs that determines whether you're able to make it pay for itself in the days and months to come.

Let's say your ad works in getting people to visit your web site, call you or come into your store. What's the next step? How can you follow up to increase your sales?

1. Make sure you get their contact information so you can follow up.

2. Whether people stopped by your web site, left a ph0ne message, emailed you or visited your store Ð follow up promptly. Get back to them within the day, if not sooner. A prospect is most likely to buy or start a profitable relationship when he/she is looking for a solution. Let your leads linger and they'll go stale. If you wait prospects may contact other service providers or stores, and you've given them time to make their purchase through someone else.

3. Respond immediately. Use a ph0ne call or an email to let them know you understand the problem they want solved and that you can help them. Even a personalized autoresponder message will do the job.

4. Market to your in-house list of contacts. If you want people to remember you when they have a need and are ready to make a decision to buy, make sure they think of you as the solution provider. The best way to do this is to regularly provide ideas, tips and information that your prospects want.

5. Create opportunities for personal contact, whether through your print mailings, ezine or web site, you want to prompt prospects to contact you to discuss their needs and / or place their order. Ask them what they want, what they are looking for. When they send you an email, follow up with a call. Tell them how to contact you, how to schedule a personal conversation and then follow up with a call.

Advertising is an expensive ticket to marketing your products and services. Use these strategies to make sure you get your money's worth and you'll find your advertising paying for itself over and over. Instead of getting your thrills from watching your business go up and down, you'll find yourself enjoying the excitement of watching your profits steadily move up. - 2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Free Marketing Plan eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com

---

How to Sharpen Your Sales Message with Do-it-Yourself Focus Groups - Small Business Power Tools

You've probably heard of focus groups. It's a tool that... Read More

How to Increase The Sales Of Promotional Products

I have searched for a new way to increase the... Read More

How to Maximize Account Penetration and Jump-Start Sales

Maximizing account penetration is one of the most critical functions... Read More

8 Line Items of a Trade Show Budget

Budget Guidelines for Trade Show MarketingB'techa didn't know - Trade... Read More

The Hardest Job Of A Trade Show

You've heard this before: There were four people named Everybody,... Read More

Disclosure Laws Favor International Terrorists

The Federal Trade Commission has rule that are supposedly in... Read More

Rotten to the Core: The Story of How the Best and Brightest can be Ruined

The objective of an incentive is to incite action within... Read More

What Is A Proposal? And Why Do You Need One?

Do you know anyone who regularly wins bids? Or can... Read More

A Real CRM Strategy or Just Tracking Customers?

Exactly what is CRMThe idea itself is nothing new; its... Read More

Baditude!

As a group of sales trainees took a break from... Read More

Leadership Lessons for Sales Managers

Leadership, like class, is hard to define, but easy to... Read More

Never Trust a Silent Customer

Imagine you run a pizza parlour. You have all these... Read More

How to Improve Your Management Procedures Usability

Are your people consistently following your procedures? Each year, organizations... Read More

How Your 60-Second Elevator Script Can Transform Your Staff, Your Sales, & Your Business

When attending a Chamber of Commerce breakfast networking get-together, I'm... Read More

3 Steps To Getting A Sales Meeting

The best way to get a new customer is to... Read More

All Small Businesses Need to Gather Community Intel

How well do you know your community? As business owners... Read More

The Hidden Competition: Avoiding the 2 Most Common Competitors

There are really only two types of competitor:1. Obvious2. HiddenThe... Read More

Is Sales Process & CRM Stopping Sales?

Standard metrics and KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) are created usually... Read More

How to Write a Business Plan Sales Section for a Mobile Service

We all agree one of the most important parts of... Read More

How to Keep Projects From Spinning Out Of Control

Are you involved in projects that seem to go nowhere... Read More

Increase Your Sales - Accept Credit Cards

Many people today simply prefer the convenience of paying by... Read More

The Differences Between A Commercial Collections Agency & Lawyer

If your letter writing and phone calls have all failed... Read More

Management by Osmosis

Sales managers are an interesting breed, effective sales managers are... Read More

Outsourcing the Sales Function

Small to medium companies that want to increase sales or... Read More

How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Sales Performance -- Part 2

Another key reason why companies suffer from 80/20 performance is... Read More

The Four ?D?s of Sales Management

Recently I stumbled across some notes that I had kept... Read More

Hiring--A Vital Key In Sales Management Success

Recently, I was asked to spend some time on the... Read More

Your Extended Shadow And Successful Sales Management

In a small midwestern town, the local high school of... Read More

Retail Operations - Effective Branch Manager Support and Guidance

Performance and behaviour management is by far the most difficult... Read More

We Will Make It Back----- A Fictional Story Based on Fact About Sales Management Success

Bill Borders stepped up onto the podium. He had just... Read More

Overcoming Sales Objections for Small Business Networks

Do you need help overcoming sales objections? Do you sell... Read More

Shorten Sales Cycles in Complex Sales Environments

Help buyers discover the answers they need to understand and... Read More

How Do I Manage Workplace Conflict?

Workplace ConflictConflict is an inevitable part of business life and... Read More